ISIS attacks humanitarian NGO

Jihadists last week attacked the Save the Children complex at Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province in Afghanistan. The militants stormed the humanitarian organization’s compound using suicide bombs and reportedly engaged Afghan security forces in a protracted firefight.

The Islamic State, also known as ISIS and/or Daesh, claimed responsibility for the attack, which took the lives of four people who worked for Save the Children, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) that provides aid, nutritional support, educational programs and other forms of support to vulnerable children.

Devastated and appalled

How are the murders of four Save the Children staff members at the hands of Islamic State terrorists affecting the organization?

Walkom emphasized that the NGO is “truly shocked and appalled” that an attack was carried out against aid workers. “These staff were dedicated humanitarians who were committed to improving the lives and well-being of millions of children across the country,” she said in a telephone interview from London, England, where the Queen’s University graduate is based.

“It’s been a pretty rough couple of days, but this organization is doing remarkable well and we are going to be stronger for it, unfortunately,” Walkom said in the aftermath of the attack. And she added that Save the Children is doing all it can to support the staff members who managed to survive the attack.

Although the organization has temporarily suspended most programs in Afghanistan, Walkom said that they “remain committed to the children of Afghanistan.” That means that the NGO will continue to focus on helping the “most marginalized and deprived children,” many of whom live in “conflict situations.” And she said most humanitarian operations will resume as soon as possible.

“There are more than 540 (Save the Children) staff as well as more than 600 community volunteers” in Afghanistan, Walkom revealed. “There were 51 staff working in Jalalabad in the compound at the time” of the attack, she added.

All four of the slain staff members were local people. The humanitarian organization, which works around the world, hires people from local communities.

According to Walkom, Save the Children has assisted 1.4 million children in Afghanistan, providing life-saving assistance to Internally Displaced People (IDPs). And she pointed out that Save the Children is ramping up its humanitarian efforts in the impoverished nation.

“In addition, we do a lot of education work, and that’s our strongest programming in Afghanistan,” she continued. For example, Save the Children is helping girls gain access to education, performing “cultural mediation” with families and “working with communities to make them understand that girls should have access to education.”

Delivering nutrition programs for children is another priority for the humanitarian organization. In particular, Save the Children tries to ensure that girls, who are often not prioritized within their families, get “proper meals.”

Moreover, “we do a lot of advocacy around early child marriage,” Walkom added.

Operations suspended

“We have temporarily suspended our programs across the country following this event,” Walkom said. However, she said that Save the Children continues, through partnership with other humanitarian organizations, to deliver “some life-saving health and nutrition work.”

Save the Children has already taken the first steps to get its programs up and running again. “We’re working through security and safety assessments across the areas where we work right now,” Walkom stated. “Our ambition is to be back up and running soon as possible. We absolutely remain committed to helping the children of Afghanistan.”

Does Save the Children have security measures in place to protect its workers?

Walkom acknowledged that Afghanistan is one the most dangerous places to operate for humanitarian organizations, citing a deteriorating security situation in the country over the past several years. But she said the NGO remains committed to the safety and security of its workers and has confidence in the organization’s security staff.

Nevertheless, Save the Children was horrified by the loss of life in last week’s attack. But Walkom said it could have been much worse, noting that 47 of the 51 staff members survived.

NGO community outraged

The humanitarian community was quick to respond to the brutal attack on Save the Children in Afghanistan.

“UNICEF is deeply outraged and saddened by the heinous attack on our Save the Children friends and colleagues in Afghanistan,” David Morley, president and CEO of UNICEF Canada, stated in an email. “We condemn the violence, which is further proof of the increasingly dangerous conditions in which humanitarian work is carried out. Our thoughts and our sympathies go out to the victims and their families.”

According to Morley, “an attack on aid workers anywhere is an attack on aid workers everywhere. When people who are only trying to improve the lives of others are deliberately targeted, it’s not only a violation of international law and human rights, but an affront to our common humanity.”

In addition, the UNICEF Canada boss asserted the attack on Save the Children was, in essence, “also an attack on the most vulnerable children and families of Afghanistan,” because “when we can’t safely deliver life-saving aid to those who need it most, the entire region pays the price.”

In order for UNICEF “to protect children’s rights in Afghanistan and around the world” and “provide the basic necessities to help children survive,” Morley said that “we need safe, unhindered and unconditional humanitarian access to all children, wherever they are in the country,” including “areas with ongoing conflict, and areas not under government control.”

There are more than 5.3 million children in need of urgent humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan, Morley said. “However, the security situation in the country has been deteriorating consistently since 2011.

“Access to vulnerable populations for UNICEF, and for the nearly 175 other humanitarian partners operating in the country, remains a serious challenge,” he added. “This tragic attack is further proof of the challenges and hazards our staff and partners face on a daily basis.”

Although Morley declined to comment publicly on UNICEF’s own security arrangements in Afghanistan, he said that the safety of the organization’s staff “remains a top priority.”

World Vision Canada also stands in solidarity with Save the Children. “We are saddened that a humanitarian organization that carries out educational, health-care, and protection work for children of Afghanistan has been targeted,” reads an official statement issued by Jim Alexander, National Director, World Vision Afghanistan. “We call on the good people of Afghanistan to ensure humanitarian agencies are able to safely carry out their work to the benefit of Afghan children and families.”

Sachitra Chitrakar of Oxfam, Afghanistan issued a statement expressing deep concern and sadness regarding the attack on Save the Children offices in Jalalabad, condemning the “atrocious attack on those who are delivering the life-saving assistance to those in need.”

According to the Oxfam representative, “it is important that NGOs are able to carry out their work without the fear of attacks on their staff and facilities so that they can they can continue to deliver life-saving assistance.” And Chitrakar stated that “the attacks on NGOs will hinder on delivery of aid ultimately affecting those in need.”

Chitrakar defiantly declared that Oxfam “will continue to deliver much needed assistance in Afghanistan. “However, we have increased security measures in place to protect our staff and will continue to monitor the situation and will take necessary actions.”

International law

Under international law, how will the attack be classified?

“To classify the crime as a war crime, one first needs to determine whether there is an armed conflict in Afghanistan,” replied Prof. Noelle Quenivet, who heads up the International Law and Human Rights Unit at the University of the West of England’s Bristol Law School.

“It is generally agreed upon that it is a non-international armed conflict and therefore such an act could possibly amount to a war crime,” Quenivet said of the Afghan conflict.

Under the Statute of Rome, which established the International Criminal Court, it is a crime to attack humanitarian workers, facilities, trucks, etc. involved in rendering humanitarian assistance. “Given that it is unlikely that the Save the Children personnel were taking a direct part in the hostilities — the condition under which they would lose their protection as civilians — and that the attack seemed to have been intentionally directed at humanitarian personnel, it is a war crime,” Quenivet declared.

However, “if the situation in Afghanistan is not viewed as amounting to a non-international armed conflict, then it cannot be a war crime,” she added. “Rather, human rights law applies, which means that the humanitarian workers’ right to life is to be respected and protected, but this obligation falls upon the State and not non-State actors.

“In any case, it would be a crime under national law, possibly viewed as terrorism if terrorism is a crime under Afghan law,” the legal scholar and co-author of 2015 book European Union Law said.

Convention on safety

Do all humanitarian workers have special protection under international law?

“The Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel prohibits attacks on UN and associated personnel and obliges States to take appropriate measures to ensure the safety and security of such personnel,” Quenivet answered.

“However, the Convention does not cover all humanitarian workers; rather, it covers those who work for organizations that have an agreement with the UN secretary general or a specialized agency,” she explained. For example, UNICEF, a UN agency is protected under the convention.

“Additionally, they must be engaged in activities that are part of a UN operation.”

Moreover, Quenivet stated that “international humanitarian law — the law that applies in times of armed conflict — protects humanitarian workers as civilians.” This means that attacks on humanitarian workers, which constitute attacks against civilians, “are prohibited and, if carried out deliberately, constitute war crimes.”

Definition of humanitarian worker

“One of the problems in international law is that there is no definition of a ‘humanitarian worker’; rather, there are specific categories of relief personnel and the system of protection is sadly a patchwork,” Quenivet stated. “Whilst international humanitarian law as spelled out in treaties provides special protection to specific categories of relief personnel — such as medical personnel, local Red Cross and Crescent society — it does not cover all humanitarian workers in a non-international armed conflict.”

In the expert opinion of Quenivet, “Save the Children is unlikely to fall in any of the categories of relief personnel specifically protected under international humanitarian law.”

However, the international law scholar was quick to add that “under customary international humanitarian law, humanitarian relief personnel must be respected and protected.” She also pointed out that “the United Nations Security Council has on numerous occasions exhorted parties to an armed conflict to respect and protect humanitarian workers.”

For example, UN Security Council Resolution 1296 (2000) declares that all parties to a conflict have an obligation to “ensure the safety, security and freedom of movement of … personnel of humanitarian organizations.”

However, Quenivet acknowledged that it is unclear “whether this means that humanitarian workers have special protection under international law.”

What is clear, said the professor, “is that they are civilians and as such should not be the object of attack.”

‘Not a target’

In December 2017, the United Nations General Assembly strongly condemned the increasing incidence of humanitarian workers being deliberately targeted and/or threatened. And the General Assembly adopted the draft resolution “Safety and security of humanitarian personnel and protection of United Nations personnel” (document A/72/L.22).

According to the United Nations website, “the Assembly urged States to make every effort to ensure the full implementation of the rules of international law that protect aid workers.”

What can Canada and the rest of the community of nations do to protect or at least reduce the physical danger facing NGOs in Afghanistan today?

“What we’re asking people to do is to give their voice,” Walkom replied. She said that Save the Children is asking individuals to join the NGO in sending the message that “it’s not OK” to target humanitarian workers by posting #NotATarget on social media.

“Aid workers should never be targeted. They are doing work to save the most vulnerable children. We have to be given the safety we need to do that.”

How does Save the Children respond to the criticism that Afghanistan is too violent and that humanitarian workers should just pull out?

“I think the world should be a bit kinder to one another right now,” Walkom responded. “The organization has been working in Afghanistan since 1976. And during that time, there’s been tremendous improvement in the numbers of children who have been able to get access to health care, education and nutrition.

“There is hope for millions of children who otherwise would have been a lost generation,” Walkom continued. And she contends that Canadians can continue to make a difference in the lives of children there.

‘Remain strong’

Despite the unprovoked attack on Save the Children, Walkom declared that the humanitarian NGO will “remain strong for children” in Afghanistan. “We are absolutely committed to doing what we can to ensure that every child survives past its fifth birthday, has access to a quality education and is protected from all forms of violence, specifically those children who are most marginalized and deprived in conflict areas, such as Afghanistan.”